Rants and Raves #15

How the weeks are flying by! I know it’s such a cliché but everything is just moving so quickly. And with another week I have another set of rants and raves…

Rave: I entered a competition with Brooks a while ago and forgot about it. If I remember correctly you had to talk about why running makes you happy and upload a photo of yourself “running happy”. I didn’t win but they did send me a consolation prize.

A very nice Brooks t-shirt. It’s made from wicking material but it’s not a ‘proper’ technical t-shirt if that makes sense but it’s still good for short runs, gym visits or just general wear. It’s lovely and soft and fits nicely.

Rant: My gym has been renovated which has just been *so* much fun trying to find an area to work out in that wasn’t a building site. Though I can understand their issue as it’s open 24/7 so it must be hard to do any sorts of improvements without closing the gym.

But anyway, they’ve created a new door system to get in and out. Before it was like a caged turnstile. Now it’s like something out of Star Trek.

You type in your code, one part of it opens, you step in, it closes before opening the next part. There is about two very long seconds where you fear you’ll never be let out. What a way to spend the rest of your life…locked in a glass cage with only your own sweat smell to comfort you.

Rave: Speaking of the new gym renovations, it has meant that we’ve had loads of new equipment and weights. Including a proper stepper machine! I was quite excited as previously we’d only had that annoying step machine that when you put your foot on each step it sinks down. I tried it once and it was awful. I just didn’t get on with it as I couldn’t work out if I was meant to do shallow little steps or big deep steps. The real step machine however is far better.

It’s actually like climbing stairs and you can get a good rhythm. Great for the glutes and legs! And for towering over the gym and people watching 😉

But I honestly have no idea what this new machine is…

On closer inspection it looked like a rowing machine, but upright…very strange.

Rant: Hot running! Though it is nice to be warm when you’re doing your warm-up…oh those days not so long ago I was standing in the car park in my tiny shorts absolutely freezing doing my leg swings while people were coming out to their cars wrapped up in coats and scarves looking at me like I was mental. But it does make for harder running.

Sweaty, uncomfortable and harder efforts for the same speeds…it’s tough! And even more so when you come back to the office and find…

NO cups for the water machine. I did consider putting my head under the water release bit and drinking that way but I thought perhaps this wasn’t proper office etiquette, even if it was past normal working hours 😉 Luckily they had another one in another corridor that I had to hunt for in my heat-induced delirium.

Rave: Pretty purple Nike capris! I’m clearly a bit obsessed with capris right now. I don’t tend to wear them running as it’s too hot but I love wearing them to the gym.

These are really comfortable and nice fitting. Normally I’m not one for crazy patterns but I just love the colour! I can’t remember where I got them from, otherwise I’d post the link as well.

Rant: Dropping your hair dryer on yourself while blow drying your hair is painful. And further proof of the accident prone idiot I am.

And also gives the impression that you’ve been mauled by a small animal. Very painful burns from the grating in the hair dryer!

Rave: Alfie just makes me smile every single day. This is him not wanting to get up one morning.

I reckon he thinks he’s invisible if he can’t see me 😉

Rave: I’m very excited about being sent these 33Shake products. I haven’t tried them yet as I’m waiting for a good time to test them out on (I have the perfect event in a week or so to give them a good testing – but more on that soon). I was sent three All-in-One Shake blend which are ideal after hard sessions as they contain great ingredients like hemp seeds and flaxseeds, natural antioxidants (which I’ve found I really need after hard sessions!), protein, and anti-inflammatories like turmeric and green coffee (oooh er!). They’re 100% natural, meaning no additives, no preservatives, and nothing manmade.

I was also sent Chia Energy Gels which will provide energy during a hard workout. And again contain all natural with a blend of carbs, proteins, Omega-3s and antioxidants.

So I’m fairly excited about testing these bad boys out!

What are your rants and raves this week?

What do you look for in sports nutrition, whether that’s before, during or after?

14 Replies to “Rants and Raves #15”

I’m still working on my sports nutrition…! It’s something I definitely need to be paying more attention to now I’m upping the runs for GNR, any tips welcome!

It’s funny what you say about time going faster, I feel it too. Someone said to me once that as we get older each day/week/etc goes quicker as it’s a smaller proportion of our life – weirdly makes sense!Pip {Cherries & Chisme} recently posted…WIAW – The Birthday Edition

I’m a big fan of protein after long runs. Great for muscle repair. Before a race I’ll always have porridge as well, but then I always have porridge for breakfast anyway haha!AnnaTheApple recently posted…Too much of a good thing

My gym has been in the renovation stage for the past year and it is so frustrating, as it isn’t a 24/7 gym so they could do it when it shuts. It’s hard to do anything with dust flying everywhere.Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy recently posted…Comment on Bangkok by Dannii

It’s just a bit annoying. But saying that, I was still able to do my thing and I’m actually quite glad they’ve revamped it as there’s loads of cool new stuff now.AnnaTheApple recently posted…Too much of a good thing

Yay for the t-shirt- it’s lovely.
Ah, running in the heat is not fun- I prefer the spring or autumn. But I do like the long light evenings so you can’t have it all!
Ouch to the hairdryer burn. I once set my hair on fire because a bit of my hair got sucked into the hairdryer- that was very scary.Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Owl cake!

That is a fab t-shirt. I like the colours.
Those gym doors would freak me out! What is the purpose of trapping you in the middle exactly?! Our gym was in the middle of being renovated when I joined two years ago and we had to navigate our way through a series of boxed in corridors and scaffolding to get to the small amount of equipment that had been left for us. It was so lovely when it finally opened up again, although I hadn’t realised how many more machines it would contain! Nice surprise!
Although it is much tougher running in the heat I do like the warm evenings and finishing up with a BBQ or in a pub garden at the weekends. Also, because the training is much harder now, think how much easier you’re going to find it on the first weekend in October when your marathon comes round and the weather is much cooler! (I say that, but that has been my plan for the last two years at Mablethorpe Marathon and both times, it has been pretty warm that weekend!)Mary recently posted…A school sports day

I think it’s to fully make sure people don’t sneak in somehow as there’s no reception and you use a code to get in (as it’s 24/7). No idea though.
Oh god well I hope the weather is fairly cool…finger’s crossed eh!

Love those leggings (of course I am a legging junkie!) and that entry system to your gym looks mad! A rave from this week would be watching Wimbledon and Finley sleeping really well, hello 7am lie in this morning!

The chia gels are the best, I’ve used them for a lot of long distance training and events, and they work so well- taste good, good digestion and no dodgy ingredients.Lauren (@PoweredbyPB) recently posted…Race to the Stones 2015